Skeena's CEO, Walter Coles commented, 'Eskay Creek was a remarkable discovery that became an extraordinary underground mine in 1994 and produced until 2008. This PEA demonstrates that Eskay Creek still has a bright future ahead, revitalized as an open-pit gold and silver mine, with the additional possibility for underground mining. The Project has the potential to produce an average of 306,000 gold-equivalent ounces per year with a diluted mill feed grade of 4.17 grams per tonne gold-equivalent. Also, as a brownfield site, Eskay Creek benefits from tremendous infrastructure installed by the previous operators. Finally, by creating a gold concentrate rather than doré, we are able to keep initial capital costs very low, at US$233 million, relative to the amount of precious metals produced; this also simplifies and reduces technical risks for the Project.'

PEA Overview

The 2019 Eskay Creek PEA considers an open-pit mine with on-site treatment of the mined material by conventional milling and flotation to recover a gold-silver concentrate for provision to third-party smelters. The mine will be an owner-operated, standard truck and shovel open-pit, with a leased mining fleet. At present, no contributions from previously reported underground resources are incorporated into this study. The processing capacity of 6,850 tonnes per day will result in a production lifespan of 8.6 years. An additional 1.5 years of pre-stripping, stockpiling and mine access development is planned prior to the processing facility becoming fully operational in Year 1. The PEA leverages Eskay Creek's extensive existing infrastructure, including all-weather access roads, previously permitted tailing storage facilities (TSF) and proximity to the recently commissioned 195 MW hydroelectric facilities and linked power grid.

The PEA is derived from the Company's pit-constrained resource estimate (February 28, 2019), and does not include results from the recently initiated and ongoing 2019 Phase I infill drilling program. The effective date of the PEA is November 7, 2019 and a technical report will be filed on the Company's website and SEDAR within 45 days of this disclosure.

Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are too speculative to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that PEA results will be realized.

After-tax economic sensitivities to commodity prices are presented in Table 2 illustrating the effects of varying gold and silver prices as compared to the base-case. Additional Project sensitivities will be presented in the Technical Report.

Table 2: After-Tax NPV (5%) and IRR Sensitivities to Commodity Prices

Lower Case

Base Case

Higher Case

Gold Price (US$/oz)

$1,200

$1,325

$1,500

Silver Price (US$/oz)

$14

$16

$18

After-Tax NPV (5%) (C$M)

$453

$638

$878

After-Tax IRR (%)

40%

51%

63%

After-Tax Payback (Years)

1.6

1.2

0.9

Average Annual After-Tax Free Cash Flow (Years 1-9) (C$M)

$117

$147

$187

Eskay Creek Mineral Resource Estimate

The Company's current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE; effective date of February 28, 2019) completed by SRK Consulting (Canada) forms the basis for this PEA. The MRE does not include drilling results from the Company's recently initiated and ongoing 2019 Phase I infill program.